


Cause After All This City Never Sleeps at Night

by wanderlustlights



Series: I'm Never Changing Who I Am [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Skanks, Complete, M/M, Skank Kurt Hummel, Skank Quinn Fabray, Smoking, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 00:50:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18458090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderlustlights/pseuds/wanderlustlights
Summary: Dave finds Kurt outside, slumped against the building, cigarette in hand.  “Took you long enough,” says Kurt, eyebrow raised, and flicks some ash onto the ground.  He brings the cigarette back up to his mouth and takes a long drag from it, eyes sparkling, staring at Dave all the while.





	Cause After All This City Never Sleeps at Night

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t written in so long and wanted to write again so I decided to start off with the third part in my skank!Kurt ‘verse. This part focuses on their first year in college at NYU. Again, title from Imagine Dragons’ “It’s Time” (like all of them are lol.) There may or may not be another part after this one idk. We’ll see lol.

Living in New York is nothing like Kurt thought it would be. Living with Dave is nothing like he thought it would be.

They decide to get an apartment together instead of staying in the dorms and find this tiny little studio and decide it’s good – well, good enough anyway, for now. It’s small, probably way too small to realistically have two people living in it, but they’re in New York and they’re together and it’s theirs. And that’s enough.

They find part time jobs – Kurt at a coffee shop down the street and Dave a work study job – to help pay for stuff and decorate their place with the small amount of things they have, stuffing their clothes in the tiny closet, the only one they have in the place, and have sex on the kitchen floor pretty much as soon as they have everything put away and order pizza for dinner and eat it sitting on the floor.

It isn’t much, just four walls and some exposed brick, but it’s theirs and it’s enough.

\--

School’s hard, way harder than Kurt thought it would be, and it sucks. His professors are a bunch of dicks and like to give out random quizzes, which only succeed in making Kurt’s attitude about the whole college experience even worse.

He does manage to make a couple friends, though, Stella and Anna from his English class. When he calls Quinn for their weekly talk, he can’t help but feel like she sounds a little jealous when he says he’s made some new friends. 

“Come on, Q, you know you’re still my number one gal,” he says teasingly. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Quinn grumbles on the other end of the line. “So how’s school?” 

“Oh you know – hating it. You?”

“Sucks,” she replies flippantly. “Whatever. Let’s get to the juicy stuff. Karofsky still fucking you good?”

Kurt nearly chokes on his coffee. “Good god, Q. The fuck is wrong with you?”

She laughs on the other end. “What? You guys are still together, right? Or did he dump your sorry ass?”

Kurt rolls his eyes. “Actually we have an apartment together here. So. 

“Holy shit, you’re living with him?” 

“Yup.” 

“Why?” 

Kurt shrugs. “Because. Dorms suck and I’d really rather not have to deal with another stupid guy as a roommate.” 

“Yeah, I guess. Mine is a total idiot. She’s into Taylor Swift and all that shit. Plays it like twenty four seven.”

“Besides. Just means I can have sex with him pretty much anytime I want,” he says with a grin.

“Hey!” Dave interjects, walking into the room. “Who is that? Why are you talking about our sex life?” 

Kurt smiles up at Dave and holds out the phone to him. “It’s Quinn, wanna say hi?”

Dave frowns at him. “No.” 

“God, okay, Mr. Grumpy. Somebody _really_ needs some coffee.” Kurt sighs and says back into the phone, “Q, I gotta go.”

Quinn laughs. “Have fun, Kurt.” 

“Bye, Q,” says Kurt and presses the end call button before smiling up at Dave again. “You know, it’s pretty rude to listen in on peoples’ conversations.”

“Uh huh,” says Dave. 

“That’s okay.” He pulls Dave down onto the bed on top of him, making him straddle him. “I think I can forgive you,” he says and pulls Dave into a long kiss. 

\-- 

They’re at dinner in the dining hall one night in late October when it happens. Stella and Anna are with them, talking about their dipshit of a History professor and how much they hate his class when Kurt does it.

Dave is taking a bite of his dinner and listening intently to the two discuss Mr. Aronson when something catches his attention out of the corner of his eye, effectively distracting him. 

Kurt is there, clad in all black, too large sweater falling off an exposed shoulder. He closes his eyes and brings his hand up to his neck and rubs it slowly, moving it from side to side to crack it. He lets out a low moan and Dave swallows hard. 

Dave can feel heat starting to fill his cheeks, making him blush, and stares at Kurt. 

 _Fuck._  

“Sorry,” Kurt says to the girls, “long class earlier.” His eyes flick to Dave, then back to Stella and Anna. “The guy was just going on and on, wouldn’t let it go. He just kept pounding all this information into us. Like we get it, chemistry’s important or whatever, but fuck, it’s not like it’s rocket science, y’know?” 

Kurt takes one last sip of his Diet Coke and stands from the table. “I need a smoke. I’ll be outside, see you guys later.” He glances over at the other boy, giving him a small smirk. “Dave.”

Stella and Anna just stare at him in confusion as Kurt saunters off, dumping his tray along the way. “That was weird,” says Anna. 

“Yeah, the hell was that all about?” says Stella. 

Dave clears his throat. “No idea,” he says, and finishes a few more bites before excusing himself from the table as well. “I’ll, uh. I’ll see ya later.” 

The two girls look at him strangely but don’t say much. “Bye…” says Stella and looks at the other girl questioningly. “Do you think they’re…?” 

“About to go have sex?” says Anna. “Oh yeah. For sure.” 

They just shrug and go back to dragging their idiotic professor.

\-- 

Dave finds Kurt outside, slumped against the building, cigarette in hand.

“Took you long enough,” says Kurt, eyebrow raised, and flicks some ash onto the ground. He brings the cigarette back up to his mouth and takes a long drag from it, eyes sparkling, staring at Dave all the while.

“You aren’t taking chemistry.” 

Kurt just shrugs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, so? Who the fuck cares? Chemistry’s stupid anyway. Was in high school, probably still is now, so.” He finishes and throws the cigarette on the ground, rubbing it into the ground under his black leather boot, and looks back up at Dave with a smirk. “Wanna go find a bathroom?” 

Dave frowns at him. “Okay first of all, public bathrooms are disgusting, there’s no way I’m about to fuck you in the middle of a dining hall bathroom. And second, I’m pretty sure we have a perfectly good bed at home.”

Kurt rolls his eyes again. “Prude,” he says, and sighs. “You know I really thought fucking you and moving to a whole other fucking state with you would at least get you some sense of adventure. But apparently not. Just can’t have any fun, I guess.”

He looks off and, with a sigh, starts walking in the direction of their apartment, arms crossed over his chest. 

Dave starts to follow after him, watching Kurt’s hips swinging purposely, and growls in annoyance. 

In the end they end up going back to the dining hall and having sex against a wall of a bathroom stall, Kurt’s legs wrapped tightly around Dave’s waist, head thrown back as Dave fucks him into oblivion. 

 _God,_ Dave is so fucking whipped.

\-- 

Fall turns into winter and before they know it, it’s Christmas break. Burt is there to pick them up from the airport a few days before Christmas, giving the two boys a big smile and hugging Kurt tightly. “I missed you, kid.” 

Kurt falls into the embrace, returning Burt’s hug, and Dave can see the tiny smile that comes onto his face. 

“You, too, Dad.” 

Burt pulls away. “You boys hungry? Come on, Carole’s making dinner.”

Kurt has to stop himself from groaning at the thought. Burt and Carole had met at school conferences three years ago and gotten married Kurt’s senior year. It isn’t that he doesn’t like Carole, she is certainly nice enough; but she’s not Kurt’s mom and that mere fact is enough to make Kurt not like her on principle alone. 

“Great,” he says tightly and opens the door to Burt’s truck, hopping into the front seat and slamming the door shut. 

Burt looks at Dave in question but says nothing. 

\--

Despite Kurt’s best efforts, Burt makes Dave sleep in the guest room. Kurt can’t help his annoyance when Burt says it but Dave is happy to comply with Burt’s wishes. 

“Dad, seriously, we _live together_ , you do know that right?” Kurt huffs. 

“It’s just a couple nights, babe,” says Dave. 

Kurt pulls away from his touch and points a finger at him. “I told you not to call me that. Especially not here.” He turns on his heel to go upstairs.

“Kurt-” Dave tries.

“Not now, Karofsky,” says Kurt behind him and shuts his bedroom door. 

Dave sighs and follows him up the stairs to bring his bag into the guest room.

\--

Kurt is fast asleep later that night when he’s awoken by Dave’s arm pulling him in by the waist. “Whassit…” he says sleepily, making Dave chuckle softly. “David?” he asks, peering behind him to see Dave’s smiling face. “What’re you…” 

Dave kisses him on the forehead. “Go back to sleep,” he whispers. 

Kurt hums and closes his eyes again. “Kay,” he grumbles and cuddles back into Dave’s body. 

“Kay,” Dave repeats and falls into sleep, finally. 

\-- 

Kurt inhales the aroma of the coffee in his mug and takes a sip, closing his eyes in bliss. _God, that’s good._  

It’s a few moments before he hears Dave coming down the stairs and looks up at him from his coffee with a small smile. “Good morning.” 

Dave smiles and follows him into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Kurt’s waist from behind him and peppering kisses along his neck. Kurt tilts his head with a moan, giving Dave easier access and a bigger canvas to work his magic on. “Good morning,” Dave says into his skin in between kisses. 

“You broke Daddy Hummel’s rules last night,” says Kurt accusingly. 

Dave shrugs. “Couldn’t sleep.” 

“Mmhmm,” says Kurt, and turns to face the other boy. “I think you’re addicted to me,” he says, an eyebrow raised. 

“Maybe.”

“Uh huh,” says Kurt with a sardonic smile. 

“Hey, I can totally sleep one night without you.” 

Kurt nods. “Sure.”

“Fine. I’ve gotten used to you being there.” Dave rolls his eyes. “Alright? Happy now?” 

“Very,” Kurt says with a grin and pulls Dave into a slow kiss. 

\--

It’s early spring, the snow melting, and it’s been a long week of midterms and an insurmountable amount of stress that Kurt would really rather not relive. Stella suggests they all go out for a night and Kurt is more than happy to oblige. That is, until Dave says it. 

“You want me to sing,” Kurt says flatly.

“Yeah,” says Dave, and nods at the stage at the front of the room where the two girls are singing a Katy Perry duet. “I’ve never gotten to hear you sing before.” 

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “My voice is awful. And you want the rest of this bar to be subjected to such a disgusting sound?”

 Dave just gives him a look, the one that makes Kurt’s heart jump a beat though he’d never admit aloud the effect Karofsky has on him. He sighs and grabs another shot of tequila from the bartender and throws it back. Thank god for fake IDs.

“Fine, Karofsky, but it’s your funeral. If people die because they can’t stand the sound of my voice then I’m telling the cops it’s all your fault.”

“Got it.” Dave gets a big goofy grin on his face and Kurt looks at him and let’s out a low growl of annoyance before going to the front to sign himself up.

Kurt’s turn comes after three more people have gone – and two more shots have been taken in the time he’s been waiting – and Kurt takes his place behind the microphone, adjusting it as the opening notes of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” starts to play. 

Kurt closes his eyes tightly and, grasping the mic with both hands, sings. 

 _Am I more than you bargained for yet? I’ve been dying to tell you anything you want to hear, ‘Cause that’s just who I am this week_  

Dave blinks and stares up at Kurt in surprise. 

He’s not _awful_. He’s… amazing. _What the actual fuck._

_We’re going down, down in an earlier round, And sugar we’re going down swinging, I’ll be your number one with a bullet, A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it._

Dave is still staring at him, brows furrowed, by the time Kurt skulks back to the table.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kurt grumbles in annoyance. 

“You…” Dave stammers, “dude. You can fucking _sing_. What the fuck.”

Kurt rolls his eyes. “The fuck are you talking about, Karofsky?”

 _Damn_ , thinks Dave. Kurt really only calls him by his last name nowadays when he’s either teasing Dave or super annoyed with him. And judging by the lack of a smirk on Kurt’s face it can really only be the latter. “Do you really not know how good you are? Your voice is fucking amazing.” 

Kurt scoffs. “Yeah, okay. You mean my disgustingly high voice that makes me sound like I’m about twelve?” 

“No, you-” Stella tries, just as bewildered as Dave. 

“I’ve gotten shit for the sound of my voice ever since I hit puberty and it barely even changed at all. Having jocks make fun of you because of your ridiculous voice day in an out doesn’t really exact a whole lot of confidence.” 

Dave is still just staring at him.

“Smoking’s helped,” Kurt muses and shrugs. “Whatever. You got to hear it. Happy now?” 

He sounds irritated, Dave thinks, but behind it he can sense a bit of relief at having finally opened up to Dave a bit more. 

Dave smiles. “Very.” 

Kurt rolls his eyes and grabs Dave’s beer, taking a drink. “You’re impossible.” 

Dave chuckles. “Maybe.”

Kurt shakes his head and Dave can see a tiny hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth as he takes another drink.

\-- 

The next morning Dave’s making breakfast when he hears it, startling him enough to make him stop his actions and put down the spatula. Kurt’s in the shower. Through the thin walls separating the kitchen and bathroom, Dave can hear pretty clearly the words of Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer” spilling from Kurt’s lips.   

He walks slowly to the bathroom and presses his ear against the door to hear closer. 

 _She says “We’ve gotta hold on to what we’ve got, It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not, We’ve got each other and that’s a lot, For love we’ll give it a shot.”_  

Dave just smiles. It feels good to know that Kurt is finally opening up to him more, bit by bit. 

The next morning it’s “I Want to Break Free” by Queen. 

Dave’s gotta say, Kurt has a pretty great taste in music. 

\-- 

It’s a cold night in April. The sounds of the city are loud outside their apartment window, lights shining in to illuminate the room. 

Dave has Kurt on top of him, legs on either side of his waist, kissing him slow. Kurt moves his lips leisurely against Dave’s, wanting to make it last as long as possible before he loses all consciousness. Finally Dave pulls away, and Kurt presses his forehead to Dave’s as he attempts to regain a semblance of normal breathing patterns. 

“Shirt, now,” says Dave, and Kurt is more than happy to comply, removing the dark shirt to throw it across the room as Dave does the same. Dave reaches up to run his hands over Kurt’s chest, then down his sides, making Kurt shiver. 

Kurt leans back down to kiss him again, fingers fumbling to unbutton Dave’s jeans before undoing his own. 

Dave can’t take it anymore, needs more, and flips Kurt onto his back. He pulls down his ripped black jeans, kissing down his neck, Kurt writhing beneath him. 

He can’t take it anymore. “God, _Dave_. Need you, now.” 

Dave kisses down Kurt’s chest, mouthing over the small tattoos there, before trailing lower. He pulls Kurt’s jeans off altogether, and stops as his eyes hover over the new ink on his hip. It’s nothing huge, just a small drawing of a bear on his pale skin.

“What. What is that?” he asks, even though he already knows the answer. 

Kurt leans up to kiss him again, this time on Dave’s neck. “What do you think it is?”

Dave rolls his eyes and has to fight from moaning when Kurt starts to suck on his neck. “Wh-when did you get that?” he stammers. 

“Yesterday,” says Kurt in between kisses. “Skipped my math class so I’d have enough time in case my appointment ran late. It didn’t, but math is boring so I skipped it anyway. Can you stop talking now? I’m sorta doing my best work here and you’re just kinda talking through it, I mean-” he runs his hand over Dave’s bulge in his boxers, “-you like it?” he asks and cups Dave in his hand. 

“I, uh-” Dave shuts his eyes at the touch, feeling his breath quicken. “It’s really hot, actually.” 

Kurt stares at him for a small second and grins mischievously. “That right, Karofsky?” he says. 

Dave just leans down to kiss him again, hard this time. 

\-- 

The next day Dave finds a tattoo shop that allows walk-ins, heart beating hard in his chest. 

He sits down in the chair, watching nervously as the tattoo artist sketches the tattoo on the transfer paper before, finally, starting. 

It’s actually a lot less painful than he’d anticipated and when he’s placed in front of the mirror to look at the artist’s work, he can’t help but think that the pain is definitely more than worth it. 

Kurt is more than worth it. 

\-- 

Kurt’s on the bed reading his English textbook and attempting not to fall asleep while doing so when Dave walks in. 

“Hey,” he says. “What took you so long? You’re like an hour late.” 

Dave sits down on the bed beside him, giving him a long kiss. “So, uh. I sorta have a surprise for you,” he says, moving to take off his shirt. 

Kurt gives him a look, eyebrow raised. “Sex? I don’t think that’s really much of a surprise anymore, but oka-” He stops as Dave’s shirt is completely off, a bandage placed on his chest. “What is that?” he asks softly. 

Dave laughs faintly and gives him a small smile, gently peeling back the tape holding the bandage in place to reveal the tattoo underneath. 

 _I’ll go wherever you go._  

It’s a plain black cursive script on the left of his chest, and Kurt can’t help but stare, thinking of the words Dave had said when he’d asked Kurt where he was going to go to school. 

“Holy shit. That… wow.” 

Dave grins. It’s not often that he can make Kurt speechless. 

“You like it?” Dave asks, echoing Kurt’s words from the night before.

Kurt can only nod, giving Dave a long kiss. 

Dave swallows hard as they pull apart. “I kinda skipped my psych class so I could get it,” he says, and Kurt laughs. 

“Well then. I think I’ve had a bit of a bad influence on you, Karofsky.” 

“I think so, Hummel,” Dave says with a smile.

\-- 

The last few weeks of the semester fly by and finals come and go in a blur of papers and exams and before they know it, freshman year is over and done with. And thank god Dave doesn’t have to listen to Kurt complain anymore about studying and how much he despises college.

He sure didn’t mind the copious amounts of sex, though, every time Kurt got ridiculously overwhelmed with studying. 

\--

They put the last of their things in boxes and set them by the door before Dave grabs Kurt by the hand and leads him down the hall to the stairwell as they make their way up. 

They’re on the roof of the apartment building when Kurt finally says something. “What’re we doing up here, Karofsky?” he asks, an eyebrow raised.

Behind them the sun is setting, painting the sky in oranges and pinks, falling down around the city. Dave takes a deep breath and exhales shakily. God, he hasn’t been this nervous since… well, pretty much since he first kissed Kurt. And right now Kurt is just standing there, staring at him, and making Dave even more anxious. 

“David?” Kurt rolls his eyes and runs a hand through his hair. “Okay, you’re being weird. If you aren’t going to say anything then I’m just gonna go ahead and go back downst-”

“Wait,” says Dave, grabbing his arm to stop him. “It’s just, I – uh.” 

Kurt frowns at him. “You just what?” 

 _Fuck,_ this is really not going the way he’d planned. Although, he’s not sure in what scenario he would be able to do this and not seem like a bumbling idiot. Dave scratches the back of his neck and fumbles into his jeans pocket for the small velvet box. “Jesus. Here,” he says and opens it to reveal the gold band tucked inside. 

Kurt just stares at him in shock. “Oh my god. What – what’re you doing?” 

“Kurt, I – I’ve known you since like fourth grade. And I’ve kinda had a crush on you since. You were pretty much as crazy back then as you are now, even if you can be kinda annoying and a bit of a bitch sometimes.” 

“What – hey,” Kurt protests but Dave goes on. 

“But I love you. And I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, letting you annoy me. So, uh. Will you? Marry me, I mean?” 

Kurt’s silent for a moment before a small smile slowly spreads across his face. “You’re crazy.” 

“Maybe. Is that a yes?” 

“Maybe. Depends on where it is.” 

“What? What do you mean?”

Kurt crosses his arms over his chest. “I _mean_ where are we having it? Because there’s no fucking way I’m getting married in Lima. And definitely not in some church.” 

“Do you really always gotta be this damn difficult? I mean come on, I was tryin’ to make this all romantic and shit with the sunset and you can’t fucking stop-” 

“Okay.” 

“-being a bitch about-” he stops and stares at Kurt for a moment. “Wait, what?”

Kurt shrugs. “Sure. Why not.” He smiles at Dave, and tries not to make it too big, but it’s sorta hard to contain. 

“Seriously?” 

“If you are, then sure.” 

 _Fuck._ Dave grins and brings him in, kissing him long and hard. They’re both a little breathless by the time they separate, foreheads pressed together as they each attempt to catch their breath. 

“Well? Do I have to put it on myself, or…”

“Oh, right,” says Dave, and grabs the ring from its place in the box, sliding it onto Kurt’s finger. Kurt swallows hard and stares down at it on his hand, feeling the weight of it, but at the same time somehow it feels weirdly right. “Still say yes?” 

Kurt raises an eyebrow and glances up at him defiantly. “I’m not changing my name.” 

Dave shrugs. “Whatever. You don’t have to.” 

Kurt fixes him with a stare, eyes narrowed. “What if I said I wanted to go to Greece? Would you still wanna marry me?” 

“Whatever you want. I’ll go wherever you go,” Dave replies, making Kurt roll his eyes. 

“You are so cheesy,” he says but there’s a hint of a smile on his lips. 

Dave smiles. “You love it,” he says and pulls Kurt in by the waist. 

“God help me, I do,” says Kurt, leaning up to pull Dave into a kiss. 

_fin._

 


End file.
